This invention relates generally to a connector means for terminating a multi-wire cable of the ribbon type which can be of the ribbon type containing either a plurality of single conductors or a plurality of coaxial cables and more specifically it relates to an improved connector which can be applied to a multi-wire cable in a one step assembly operation with a strain relief function for the cable being an inherent structural feature of the connector and effective during the assembly of the connector upon the cable.
A common problem in the electrical art today is the termination of a multi-wire cable such as a multi-wire flat ribbon cable composed of individual conductors or a ribbon cable including a plurality of individual coaxial cables positioned side-by-side in parallel arrangement. One of the more frequent terminating requirements is to provide a connector which terminates the individual conductors of the cable and also provides means, such as female receptacles, for receiving terminal posts or other external connections, which are thereby connected to the individual wires of the cable through the connector contacts.
One prior art connector means for terminating such multi-wire cables comprised a housing having a main portion consisting of a substantially flat center portion with a plurality of parallel channels formed on either side thereof and which are constructed individually to receive the first end of a contact such as a terminal post. The other ends of the contacts extend upwardly toward the upper end of the center portion of the housings and terminate in a suitable means for securement to individual wires of the multi-wire cable. Such securing means can be a crimping means, for example.
In the assembly of the connector to the ribbon cable, selected wires of the cable, alternate ones, for example, are first crimped in the contacts on one side of the flat center portion of the housing by an appropriate crimping tool such as a press. The connector must then be turned over and the remaining wires crimped in the contacts on the other side of said center portion of the housing. Thus, two individual steps are required to crimp the wires in the contacts, one each for the two sides of the housing body. Subsequently, strain relief means, which usually consist of two matable pieces, are fitted at one end thereof over the connector and at the other end thereof around the undressed portion of the coaxial ribbon cable. The two halves of the strained relief structure are secured together in their mated position by suitable fastening means such as screws or bolts.
Thus, the complete assembly of the prior art connector involves at least four distinct steps including the dressing of the cable, the crimping of the wires into the contact on one side of the main housing body, crimping the wires into the contacts on the other side of the main housing body, and then securing the two halves of the anti-strain structure together around both the main connector housing body and the ribbon cable.